Notice of Copyright. Citing Resources from the Western History Collections

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1 Notice of Copyright Published and unpublished materials may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Any copies of published and unpublished materials provided by the Western History Collections are for research, scholarship, and study purposes only. Use of certain published materials and manuscripts is restricted by law, by reason of their origin, or by donor agreement. For the protection of its holdings, the Western History Collections also reserves the right to restrict the use of unprocessed materials, or books and documents of exceptional value and fragility. Use of any material is subject to the approval of the Curator. Citing Resources from the Western History Collections For citations in published or unpublished papers, this repository should be listed as the Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. An example of a proper citation: Oklahoma Federation of Labor Collection, M452, Box 5, Folder 2. Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.

2 141 ODBC CAfiDS aanohlnf C3iitrok»«Hat ion Chootmw Hat Ion Can»dian Rirtr Trail Vann, Bill Int«rtribal oitisanahip Outlaw a Indian Ttrrltory

3 ABBOID, t. i. jwrtsram. j! 142 iltikvuf WHH W. A. ABHDIg Is GU.T«R te 0. G. Davidson Fi»ld Worker. I was box* in the) Cherokee Nation, Canadian Dirt* riot «t Webbara falla Bovaaber 18, My father wae a Dootor* Dr. Clarence Ck Arnold* He and ay aether aaparatad wha» I was four yaara old and ha laft that eountry and I never Iraaw madh. about hla* I graw up around fabbara Falla* Workad on ranceteaa at add joba until I fjat larga aaougb ta hold a top-band jab* My firat raal job wa» for tha Pitch fork outfit, ovnad by John R«Lsvia*, Em brands* with tha (~ (Piteh lark) Brand. His rauefc waa saran nilaa northwast of Wabbars fails* Pat Saddarwhita waa foraaam of tha outfit* Mr* La*is want ta Taxaa and bought satsral thousand haad <rf stssra* drara them through an tha aid Tsxaa Trail/ brandad tha» / h fa I // and turned tham looaa am tha ranga* / Sraxy yaar wa would hara what tha ranahara calla* th* fall round-up. Wa would rid* tha range far alias around and gather up all tha cattle and drira tham ba«k ta tha hoaa raftga, brand tba calrea and all tha other cattle that ware not brandad*

4 AHJOID, 1. A.. t0xbf3i«143 Usually all ef the ranchers of tha eoouunity would throw la together for tha round-up. Tha first round-up I aada I waa working for tha Pitchfork outfit, and drora tha chuck wagon and cooked for tha eov-boye* On this round-up thara woro cow-boys from tha Haraon Tann ranch, throa ailoa Northoaat of Forum* They brandad with tha BY brand* *he Cicero DaTis ranah who uaad tha half-circla (0) brandt, located 18 Miles oast of Cheeotah* Wo finished gathering supplies at the Circle C Banch«Mr. DaTis put in 12 big sldaa ef seat and a 10 galon earn of lard* fhe first stop wo ado waa at tha Tuck Thornburg fan 12 milaa south ef Cheeotah* fa ware thara for about a weak. The boys riding tha range for Miles around gathering upocattle. Whom we left thara wa crossed the Canadian river at the Ool Oondly *erry into the Choctaw Nation* la camped that night on top of the finding Stair Mountain. It took me about 6 hours to el lab tha Mountain with tha ehuek wagon. It rained so hard that night that I had ta gat under the chuek waf»» ta aook supper* From there we wamt ta Enterprise and gathered up several thousand head of cattle that had stray-

5 ABROAD, f. JU MrXHTDBT. *144 6 tar into that country* Coating back into the Gbexekae Nation we crossed the Canadian rirer at Hoyt Harry* * get atuok is quick sand, and tha cow-boys had t«tia tba wagon bed down with rope a ta keep It fram floating off, than tied ropaa to tba wagon tongue and ta their eaddle horaaa and the eowponya pulled ua Coapar Surratt, a fall blood Chectaw Indian. 11red at Ihitefield and always helped ewla cattle aeroaa the riter. Be could HIBI haraa around and herd cattle aa good in a rirer as BOat e«w-beya oauld on a prairie. Pony Starr was another astray good hand at awiaaing cattle, Clem Vann and Jaok Foraaan were the beat brush hands on the; round-up* They could rope a steer in the thickest bxuam and nerer miss. They wera alse considered the beat broae-»ridera in the country* In those daya a son had to knew how ta handle a repe and to ride a bronoe ^o-ntfks a hand on \ a ranah* Tha oaw-ponya ware turned looaa^n th«ranga^ t ^ grana at nigbt and drore in in tha morning by what thay called tha horse wrangler* \ \

6 AWDID, W. A. MTEHVIM. 145 Story cow-boy had to rope his horse and if ho mis* ood it was just to bad* After ho was roped and saddled t the cow-boy usually had to be a good rider to stay in the saddle for the first few minutes* We were out in this round-up for almost three months* None of the boys had shared during the tine* About 1S9& Bill?ann, a Oherokee Indian, 1 IT ing three miles northwest of Webbers Falls, and whose wife was a Chickasaw Indian, nored to the Chickasaw Nation in order te get in an allotment* When the allotmenta were made te the Chiokaeewe, he took with him a big herd of cattle end also a big herd of horses* We were about six weeks asking the trip* Kr* Venn had a let ef money and he had it in an eld trunk in the bottom of one of the wagons. (There were about eight wagons in the outfit ) and other stuff peeled around and a mattress en top* Be and his wife rede en top ef all this all the way and slept there at night* There was quite a let of robbing being done and we were expecting ie be held up and robbed all the way but nothing happened we camped one night at a little town called Hilliby, about 12 miles South of e Sufaula and the Indiana were having a stomp danoe there* They made so much neise we didn't go te sleep that night.

7 AWOID, W. A* IBTKHflSI. UP Tiabomlnge was the next tow* we went through, then Stonewall and Woedville where they stepped again. J*ter I went to work on the Blaekatone ranch owned by lip and George Blackstone, located thr alias du» Horth of Porum* Tha ranch house was a two room boxed shack built of eatton wood lumbar* The ranch cone1stad of 4,200 acres of lend. Their cattle bread was the IQJ Box bread and the (V) Hat Dp brand* Their horse brand wee 111. I worked on this ranch far about 30 years. In 1911 at Porum, there was a bunch of people started what they called the Black Gap Gang. They accused Pony Starr and Joe Davis of rustling cattle* On the 29th day of ]flty they decided they would go to Pony Starr houaa and kill him and Jee IATIS* They went there, 29 ia number, and in about \ thirty minutes Id men had been killed and wounded* Several died right OB the spot* Several of their horses were killed but Starr or Davis didn't receive a wound* That waa what started what was known as the Starr and Davis feud at Porum*